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TiVo Highlights Effect of Timeshifting on New Series Premiers in October Using Stop||Watch(TM) Ratings Service

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 December 2008, 07:30 CST

- Network Series Premiers in October Experience as Much as 54% Timeshifting -

- ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives Dominate the Top Ranked Programs -

- Cable Sees Primetime Lift in Year-Over-Year October Viewing -

ALVISO, Calif., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services and advertising solutions for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced that at least half of the viewing for network series premiers in October 2008 was on a Timeshifted basis, according to its Stop||Watch(TM) ratings service.

Of the seven new broadcast series that debuted, six drew at least 50% of their audience on a Timeshifted basis. In fact, 52% of viewers who tuned in to the month's highest rated premier, ABC's Life on Mars, chose to record the program and watch it later. NBC's My Own Worst Enemy and CBS's Eleventh Hour had 54% and 51% of their viewers, respectively, tune in on a Timeshifted basis. Timeshifted viewers also skipped commercials at high rates. Five of the seven premiers had at least 60% of their commercials fast-forwarded - viewers who Timeshifted the Life on Mars Premier skipped 65% of the commercials that aired with the program.

Todd Juenger, Vice President & General Manager, TiVo Audience Research & Measurement, said, "We would expect to see this level of Timeshifting for an older show with an established fan base, and a new series premier to get most of its viewing Live. The fact that these new series got upwards of 50% of their viewing on a Timeshifted basis indicates that viewers are growing accustomed to recording programs and watching when they want - thereby increasing a program's total viewership. However, Timeshifting audiences also have the ability to skip commercials, which impacts the efficacy of the ads and the economics of the program, and can have long term effects on how networks evaluate their success going forward."

New Series Premiers - October 2008

Program Program Ratings Time- Ratings Time- % shifted Program Broadcast Total Shifted Time- Commercial Rank Episode Network Time Viewing Viewing shifted Avoidance 1. Life On Mars ABC Thursday Oct 10.6 5.5 52% 65% 09 at 10:01PM 2. My Own Worst NBC Monday Oct 7.9 4.3 54% 67% Enemy 13 at 10:00PM 3. Eleventh Hour CBS Thursday Oct 7.3 3.7 51% 58% 09 at 10:01PM 4. Kath & Kim NBC Thursday Oct 5.7 2.9 51% 67% 09 at 8:30PM 5. Crusoe NBC Friday Oct 4.9 2.1 42% 62% 17 at 8:00PM 6. The Ex List CBS Friday Oct 4.8 2.4 50% 65% 03 at 9:00PM 7. Stylista CW Wednesday Oct 1.4 0.7 50% 22% 22 at 9:00PM

TiVo also unveiled the Top Commercial and Program Rankings for October 2008, as viewed by TiVo(R) service subscribers. Programming from ABC dominated the month, taking seven of the Top Ten Program spots in Total and Timeshifted viewing - thanks to the hits Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. All of the Top Ten Commercials in Total viewing aired on ABC, while seven of the Top Ten most viewed commercials on a Timeshifted basis aired on the network as well.

October -- Top Commercials v. Top Programs (Total Viewing)

Top Programs - Total Viewing Program Date Rating 1. Grey's Anatomy - ABC 23 - Oct 20.7 2. Grey's Anatomy - ABC 9 - Oct 20.2 3. Grey's Anatomy - ABC 16 - Oct 19.8 4. Desperate Housewives - ABC 5 - Oct 18.3 5. Desperate Housewives - ABC 26 - Oct 18.1 6. Desperate Housewives - ABC 12 - Oct 17.8 7. Desperate Housewives - ABC 19 - Oct 17.7 8. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - CBS 9 - Oct 15.8 9. House - FOX 14 - Oct 14.8 10. House - FOX 30 - Sep 14.8

• All four episodes of Desperate Housewives and three different episodes Grey's Anatomy that aired during the month made the Top Ten Program list for October.
• In a break with tradition, only one movie trailer, for Disney's High School Musical 3, made the Top Ten Commercial list.

October -- Top Commercials v. Top Programs (Timeshifted Viewing)

Top Commercials - Timeshifted Viewing Brand Program Date Rating 1. Electrolux Washer & Grey's Anatomy - ABC 9 - Oct 7.4 Dryer 2. Apple Macintosh House - FOX 21 - Oct 6.7 Computers 3. Walt Disney High Grey's Anatomy - ABC 16 - Oct 6.6 School Musical 3 4. Macy's Department Desperate Housewives - ABC 5 - Oct 6.3 Stores 5. Chevrolet Trucks Grey's Anatomy - ABC 9 - Oct 6.2 6. Verizon Wireless Grey's Anatomy - ABC 23 - Oct 6.0 7. Apple iPod Touch House - FOX 30 - Sep 5.9 8. Apple Macintosh Desperate Housewives - ABC 19 - Oct 5.8 Computers 9. Travelocity Travel SNL Weekend Update 9 - Oct 5.8 Service Thursday - NBC 10. Target Stores Grey's Anatomy -ABC 23 - Oct 5.7

Top Programs - Timeshifted Viewing Program Date Rating 1. Grey's Anatomy - ABC 23 - Oct 14.6 2. Grey's Anatomy - ABC 9 - Oct 14.5 3. Grey's Anatomy - ABC 16 - Oct 14.1 4. Desperate Housewives - ABC 26 - Oct 12.4 5. Desperate Housewives - ABC 5 - Oct 12.3 6. Desperate Housewives - ABC 12 - Oct 12.1 7. Desperate Housewives - ABC 19 - Oct 12.0 8. House - FOX 30 - Sep 11.0 9. House - FOX 14 - Oct 10.9 10. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - CBS 9 - Oct 10.7

• Electrolux Washers & Dryers managed to take the Top Commercial Spot for both Total and Timeshifted viewing, a rare occurrence for a major appliance commercial.
• Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy were dominant among Timeshifted viewers as well, with the same episodes appearing for both Total and Timeshifted viewing.
• CBS did manage to sneak one entry in at the tenth position, while FOX's House took two of the Top Ten Timeshifted Program spots.

Juenger said, "The effect of DVRs on primetime network programming is staggering. As shown above, programs like ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives typically get nearly 75% of their viewers on a Timeshifted basis. Additionally, these programs generally see more than 60% of Timeshifted viewers fast-forward through their commercials. When you put that together, it means these shows are losing close to 50% of their effective ad inventory in DVR homes. The economics of original programming with big budgets, big audiences, and big advertising revenue don't work in this environment, and it only gets worse as DVRs continue to proliferate. I can think of no bigger issue facing network television and the brands that depend on it."

TiVo recently reported that broadcast networks received a primetime lift in year-over-year viewership, while cable viewership lagged. The opposite was true for October, with cable experiencing a sizeable year-over-year growth in viewership for Total and Timeshifted viewing. Cable networks also experienced less commercial fast-forwarding than their broadcast counterparts in a year-over-year comparison. Similar to 2007, Timeshifted cable viewers skipped roughly half of the commercials in October 2008, while broadcast commercial skipping again crossed the 60% threshold, reaching 64% for the month in 2008.

Cable Program/Commercial Viewership Lift -- October 2008 Year-Over-Year Comparison

Program Commercial Rating Rating Commercial Oct 08/ Oct 08/ Avoidance Oct 07 % Oct 07 % October October Viewing Change Change 2007 2008 Total 10% 9% 20% 21% Live Viewing (5 Second Interval) 7% 8% 6% 5% Timeshifted Viewing 15% 13% 49% 51% Near-live Viewing (Within 1 Hour) 21% 19% 29% 30% 1-6 Hour Delay 12% 3% 62% 65% 6-24 Hour Delay 15% 9% 65% 67% 24-48 Hour Delay 8% 0% 65% 67% 48-72 Hour Delay 5% 0% 64% 66% 72 Hour to 7 Day Delay 11% 3% 64% 66% 7-14 Day Delay 12% 6% 64% 66% ***Networks Considered: A&E, AMC, Animal, BET, Bravo, CNBC, CNN, Comedy, Court (TruTV), Discovery, E!, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC Family, FNC, Food, FX, HGTV, Lifetime, MSNBC, MTV, Nickelodeon, Oxygen, SciFi, Spike, TBS, TNT, Toon, Toon Disney, USA, VH1

Broadcast Program/Commercial Viewership Lift -- October 2008 Year-Over-Year Comparison

Program Commercial Rating Rating Commercial Oct 08/ Oct 08/ Avoidance Oct 07 % Oct 07 % October October Viewing Change Change 2007 2008 Total -12% -11% 37% 36% Live Viewing (5 Second Interval) -12% -11% 4% 3% Timeshifted Viewing -13% -11% 65% 64% Near-live Viewing (Within 1 Hour) -10% -6% 47% 44% 1-6 Hour Delay -11% -12% 70% 70% 6-24 Hour Delay -17% -18% 73% 73% 24-48 Hour Delay -12% -12% 73% 73% 48-72 Hour Delay -15% -16% 73% 73% 72 Hour to 7 Day Delay -14% -15% 73% 73% 7-14 Day Delay -12% -3% 73% 73% ** Networks Considered - Broadcast: ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, MyNTV.

The Stop||Watch(TM) ratings service, introduced in February 2007, is offered via an easily sortable database of ratings for nationally run programs and advertisements from cable and broadcast networks, with data going back to September 2006. The service now tracks ratings for 66 nationally distributed, ad supported networks, and covers all nationally distributed programming and commercials aired from 5:00am - 11:30pm.

TiVo's Power||Watch(TM) ratings service provides advertisers access to second-by-second program and commercial ratings data, with demographic segmentations, for 20,000 households who have volunteered to take part in a "passive" consumer panel. The Power||Watch(TM) ratings service provides subscribers the ability to look at TV viewing broken down by standard household demographics including income, geography, ethnicity, number of children and tenure of TiVo subscriber, among others. TiVo can associate household data with the viewership data then produce program and commercial viewership reports by aggregate demographic and behavioral audience groups. All reports prepared by TiVo using this data are anonymous.

Subscribers to TiVo's Stop||Watch(TM) ratings service and Power||Watch(TM) ratings service include: Omnicom Media Group, CBS Corporation, The Interpublic Group, Starcom, Zenith Optimedia, Carat USA, MPMA, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Media IQ and Euro RSCG New York.

TiVo Stop||Watch(TM) ratings service data is derived from a daily, aggregate, anonymous, stratified random sample of 100,000 TiVo subscribers - from which the second-by-second "clickstream" of behavior and viewership is collected and assessed. The Stop||Watch(TM) ratings service includes data for: Total Viewing, Live Viewing, Timeshifted Viewing (less than 1 hour, 1-6 hours, 6-24 hours, 24-48 hours, 48-72 hours, 3-7 day, and 7-14 day delay and C3), Program Ratings, Commercial Ratings and a Commercial Viewership Index. The Stop||Watch(TM) service uses ad occurrence data from TNS Media Intelligence to identify commercial spots. For more information on the TiVo Stop||Watch(TM) ratings service, visit https://stopwatch.tivo.com.

About TiVo Inc.

Founded in 1997, TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO) pioneered a brand new category of products with the development of the first commercially available digital video recorder (DVR). Sold through leading consumer electronic retailers and our website, TiVo has developed a brand which resonates boldly with consumers as providing a superior television experience. Through agreements with leading satellite and cable providers, TiVo also integrates its DVR service features into the set-top boxes of mass distributors. TiVo's DVR functionality and ease of use, with such features as Season Pass(TM) recordings and WishList(R) searches and TiVo KidZone, have elevated its popularity among consumers and have created a whole new way for viewers to watch television. With a continued investment in its patented technologies, TiVo is revolutionizing the way consumers watch and access home entertainment. Rapidly becoming the focal point of the digital living room, TiVo's DVR is at the center of experiencing new forms of content on the TV, such as broadband delivered video, music and photos. With innovative features, such as TiVoToGo(TM) transfers and online scheduling, TiVo is expanding the notion of consumers experiencing "TiVo, TV your way. (R)" The TiVo(R) service is also at the forefront of providing innovative marketing solutions for the television industry, including a unique platform for advertisers and audience research measurement.

TiVo, 'TiVo, TV your way.', Season Pass, WishList, TiVoToGo, Stop||Watch, Power||Watch, and the TiVo Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TiVo Inc. or its subsidiaries worldwide. (C) 2008 TiVo Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE TiVo Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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